


Crazy Beautiful

by thismidnight



Category: Hunger Games (2012) RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 22:14:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1915797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thismidnight/pseuds/thismidnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set a few years in the future, a lazy morning with Josh, Jen, and Driver.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crazy Beautiful

“Jen! What the hell are you doing?”

I wait a few seconds for a response, and when one doesn’t come, I sigh and fall back against the bed, exasperated. She’s stalling.

I’m not used to being the responsible one. Normally, when we’re getting ready to do… well anything, she’s the one that has to pull me away from the television or out of bed to get my ass in gear so we can get out the door in some semblance of a timely fashion.

Right now, though, I’m the one trying to wrangle her into the shower so she can be ready when her entourage descends upon her condo to start prepping her for the premiere of her new movie tonight -- the premiere that we’re attending together, as a couple. It’ll be the first time we’ve made an appearance together since we announced to the world we were officially together about two months ago.

I know that’s why she’s stalling. She enjoys privacy even more than I do, and she’s not looking forward to the cameras and the questions we both know will inevitably come up about our relationship. I’m not either, but stalling isn’t going to make this premiere not happen.

“Jennifer!” I holler again, and even louder this time, “you know we’re still going to this thing tonight even if you don’t shower, right?”

Right about the time I finish my sentence, she rounds the corner into the bedroom holding a half eaten slice of pizza from our dinner last night in her left hand, and Driver trots in beside her. From the way he follows her around, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was her dog and not mine. He’s just as crazy about her as I am, and maybe even more so. Her hair is pulled back in a low but messy ponytail, and she’s still in the clothes she slept in; a faded, old Cardinals shirt of her dad’s that’s about three sizes too big for her, and a pair of impossibly short black mesh shorts that have practically disappeared under the hem of her shirt.  I know tonight she’ll look absolutely stunning in whatever dress they doll her up in, but it won’t even come close to comparing to how gorgeous I think she looks right now. Sometimes I still can’t believe how lucky I am to finally have her.

“I was getting breakfast,” she mumbles through a mouthful of pizza, “and really, you don’t say? I thought I could just get out of going tonight by refusing to shower.”

I roll my eyes at her and pat the spot next to me on the bed. “Did you bring me any?” I ask, nodding my head at the pizza in her hand as she crosses the room and perches on the edge of the mattress, and Driver follows her – of course he does – hopping up on the bed and lying down next to her.

“Well,” she begins, taking another bite of pizza, chewing and swallowing before finishing her thought, “I did have a piece for you.”

“You ate it, didn’t you?” I ask, even though there’s no need. The way her eyes glint mischievously tells me all I need to know, but still she shrugs anyway.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I dropped it and Driver ate it. You’ll never know.” She takes another bite of her pizza, waggling her eyebrows at me playfully.

I laugh loudly. “Driver wouldn’t do that, would you, buddy?” I ask, reaching over and scratching him between his ears. “Don’t blame him for your pizza stealing. And speaking of pizza stealing…” I reach out swiftly and snatch what remains of the slice in her hand away from her, quickly taking a bite, which elicits a startled shriek in response. She reaches to take her precious pizza back from me, but I hold it out away from her at arm’s length and out of her grasp.

“Josh!” she whines, “that’s my breakfast! Come on, I’m hungry! I won’t get to eat again until…” and she sighs dramatically. “God, until forever. Give it back!”

“Are you going to get in the shower?” I ask, tilting my head and arching my eyebrows at her.

“Yes!” she calls out almost desperately, leaning across my body, stretching and wiggling her fingers at the pizza in my outstretched arm.

“And you’re going to do it now?”

She stops her attempts at trying to reach for the pizza and sits straight up, glaring at me. “No, next week, dumbass,” she says, sarcasm dripping off every one of her words.

I bring the pizza back to my mouth and take another bite before handing it back to her so she can have the last bit of it, “you know, technically, what’s left of that should be mine.”

She shakes her head and gets up from the bed almost immediately and moves away from me. I guess she’s worried that I’ll take her pizza again and I smile at the thought as she finally makes her way into the bathroom, polishing off her breakfast as she starts the shower. She shuts the door halfway and this prompts Driver to lift his head from the mattress now that she’s gone from his line of vision. He’s always so concerned about her whereabouts.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” I tell him, reaching over and patting his side, “she’s not going anywhere.”

He keeps his focus trained on the bathroom door for a few more moments before finally relenting and laying his head back down, and I swear I hear him sigh as he does it. I laugh and begin scratching his side, “you really love her, hmm?” I ask. His eyes quickly dart to the side to look at me before flitting back to the bathroom door, which he hadn’t taken his eyes off of since Jennifer disappeared behind it. I know he has no idea what I’m talking about and he just looked at me because he heard my voice, but I also know what he’d say if he could answer.

“Yeah,” I sigh, reaching up to pet the top of his head, “me too.”

 

\--------------------------

 

Driver and I have both started dozing off when Jennifer finally pulls open the bathroom door, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her head, a heather grey sports bra, and a black pair of boyshort style underwear. I smile sleepily at her, and Driver raises his head off the bed, his tail beginning to wag lazily on top of the comforter.

“Really? You were both sleeping?” she says with mock annoyance in her voice, putting both of her hands on her hips as she observes us. “Assholes,” I hear her mutter under her breath as she pads into the bedroom, unwrapping her hair from the towel, shaking her hair loose… and then throwing the towel at my face.

I laugh and pull the towel off my face and let it drop to the floor, “we wouldn’t have gone to sleep if you hadn’t been in the shower for half an hour. What the hell took you so long?”

She doesn’t hear my question, though, because Driver has her full attention. She’s stepped up the side of the bed and has his face in both of her hands, talking nonsense to him in a high-pitched voice and his tail is wagging so hard and fast now I think he might take off into flight.

I know I shouldn’t stare, but I can’t help it. It’s little things like this, like when she talks to my dog like he’s a baby just because it makes him happy, that I realize all the missed opportunities, failed relationships, and shitty timing through all the years we’ve known each were completely worth it, because it makes me appreciate the fact that I have her now so much more. And suddenly, just like that, I realize I’m totally overwhelmed with how completely in love I am with her. It’s a little scary, but great and wonderful and amazing all at the same time.

“Josh?” I hear her call out, and I realize I’ve wandered off into my own thoughts. I shake off the cobwebs and look at her, now slowly scratching the top of Driver’s head as she watches me carefully, an amused smile starting to form on her lips.

“Sorry,” I apologize, shaking my head at her, “I zoned out.”

“Yeah, you did. When are you getting out of bed? It’s, like, noon. And you need to shave,” she says, reaching out to touch my chin and I duck my head away from her hand.

“I do not,” I retort, bringing my hand up to rub the bottom of my chin. It’s a little rough, sure, but it doesn’t look horrible.

She gives me a pointed look, “yes, you do. You look like a hobo playing dress up when you put on a suit and don’t shave.”

I roll my eyes. I hadn’t planned on shaving, but this is going to be her night, and if she wants me to shave, then I guess that’s what I’m doing. “Fine,” I relent. “I’ll do it once you’re done. Don’t you need to dry your hair?” I ask, reaching up and tugging gently on one of the damp tendrils of her hair that lays in a tangled mess down her back.

“Yeah, I do,” she says absently, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to me and sighing.

“Hey,” I begin gently, reaching out and rubbing her back, “you okay?”

She looks back at me, her eyebrows furrowed and biting her bottom lip, and I feel something tug in my chest at her expression. She doesn’t have to tell me what’s bothering her; I can read it all over her face.

“Everything is gonna be fine tonight.” I tell her reassuringly, as I continue to rub her back, “they’ll take some pictures of us, you’ll answer some stupid questions, and that’s it. If they ask anything too personal, you just avoid the question. You’re good at that. Plus, you’ll have me there.” I nudge her playfully with my shoulder for good measure.

She nods hesitantly. “I know. Thank you,” she says, leaning over and kissing me quickly on the lips before she stands up. “I just hate that our business has to be everyone else’s business, you know? Like, okay, they know we’re together, shouldn’t that be enough? But no, it’s never enough.” as she speaks she starts moving around the room, opening drawers and pulling out clean clothes to change into before her stylist shows up with her hair and makeup people.

“Well, whatever they get tonight, that’s all they’re gonna get for awhile, and that’s all there is to it.” I tell her firmly, sitting up and swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, rubbing the back of neck with my hand. My stomach has started growling, so I’m going to have to go get something more substantial than the two bites of pizza I had earlier.

She closes a drawer and looks at me, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, a pair of black yoga pants dangling from her hand, “where are you going?”

“Kitchen,” I say, as I stand and stretch my arms over my head, “I need food since someone ate mine before it made it to me.”

That must enough to temporarily get her mind off tonight, because she starts to smile, “I told you, it was your dog, not me. But, hey, and since you’re going down to the kitchen, will you bring me more pizza? Oh, and some Oreos! There should be a package in the pantry.”

The fact that she’s requested more food doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is how quickly we’ve moved on to pizza and Oreos from the previous topic, like it was never even a problem to begin with, even though I know it’s been weighing on her for days. I’ve always known her train of thought could go all over the map, especially when food comes into the picture, but she’s thrown me a curveball. Maybe I’ll never know her as well as I think.

“Well?” she asks impatiently, “am I getting my Oreos or not?”

I roll my eyes, “of course you are. Pizza and Oreos. Got it.” As I move past her to exit the room, I reach out and smack her ass, which earns me another shriek in response. She swings her yoga pants at me and I grin at her, “Look, you can’t walk around like that for as long as you did and not expect me to do something, okay? You brought that on yourself.”

She crosses her arms, glares at me, and I start laughing at her attempt to be angry. “You’re gonna pay for that,” she tells me, and I can tell she’s fighting hard to keep her face from breaking into a smile.

“Gladly,” I say sincerely, winking at her as I step out of the room. I look back in at Driver, who is still lounging on the bed, watching both of us intently. “You coming, bud?” I ask him, patting my leg to encourage him to join me. Instead, he hops off the bed and trots over to Jennifer.

“Traitor,” I mumble under my breath, and the last thing I hear before I head down the stairs to the kitchen is the sound of Jennifer laughing hysterically and telling Driver he’s such a good boy.

 

\---------------

 

As I make my way back up the stairs to the bedroom with what I think is enough pizza and Oreos for both of us, the first warning I get that something’s happening is the music I hear softly playing from the direction of the bedroom. The second comes once I get closer to the doorway, and I hear Driver bark happily.

I’m completely confused as I make my way into the bedroom, and I’m just about to ask Jen what the hell is going on when I stop dead in my tracks.

She hasn’t seen me yet, but in the time that I was in the kitchen, she’s managed to pull on a plain blue cotton t-shirt, but her yoga pants lay discarded on the bathroom counter next to the hair dryer and her phone, which is the source of the music.

In her left hand is her hairbrush, which she’s holding up to her mouth and using as a microphone to sing Bohemian Rhapsody to Driver, who is happily bouncing around her as she continues to… well, maybe sing isn’t the right word, but she’s definitely attempting to sing as she bounces around the bathroom with Driver doing his best to anticipate her moves. He barks at her once again and she laughs, her smile lighting up the room.

“Oh, is it your turn to sing?” she asks, looking down at Driver, who responds by standing on his hind legs and resting his two front paws on her shoulders, and she laughs even louder, “oh, you want to dance, huh? Okay, I think I can manage that.” She wraps her arms around his muscular body as best as she can and starts awkwardly stepping around the bathroom with him, continuing to sing while she does, as the music continues to play from her phone. I stay quiet and move out of her line of vision so she can’t see me. Stopping this is absolutely the last thing I want to do right now.

_Crazy_ , I think to myself. Ten minutes ago she was completely stressed about tonight, and now I stand holding a plate filled with pizza and Oreos for her, watching as she sings and dances with Driver, seemingly without a care in the world. _Absolutely crazy._

But I love it. And I love her. And I wouldn’t have her any other way.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!!! Check me out on Tumblr, you'll find me there as splitscreen!


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